Linked Souls
by UekiKosuke
Summary: Collab with MyInfernalInsanity! Eiji cuts, and Ryoma is brutally beaten up every night. Can you save someone who has already lost his will to live? Maybe, it takes to two with broken souls to rise again. Eiji x Ryoma, R&R please
1. The Lifeless

**_** This fic is a collab work by UekiKosuke and MyInfernalInsanity ** Thank you :) _**

**_Disclaimer: WE DON'T OWN ANYTHING! And by we, I mean by MyInfernalInsanity and myself._**

**_WARNING: This fic WILL have cutting and it will have rape in the future chapters! It's also going to be boy x boy, so if you don't like, please press the back button or close the tab ^^ _**

**_-We'd like to dedicate this fanfiction to all those people who post secrets on "". I was a cutter myself, and even though I wasn't brutally abused like Ryoma, in this situation, I know many teens out there have issues like this, and we wanted to let you know that your not alone, and you can pm both MyInfernalInsanity and myself whenever you want to talk to either of us about this._**

**_-Ryoma's bit was written by UekiKosuke and Eiji's bit was written by MyInfernalInsanity ^^_**

**_Please Enjoy~_**

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**Chapter one – The Lifeless**

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In America:

An agonizing scream rang throughout the neighborhood just like any other night. No one knew where the piercing sound came from, and no one really cared. They just wanted the 'noise' to shut it's-self up. However, in one household, a certain petite boy was coughing up blood, looking pathetic, sprawled in his own pool of stomach acid. He pounded on the wooden floor, hoping that the new pain would help ease the other one. He bit his lips, drawing blood from it. But the other man in the room laughed malevolently, kicking the withering being with all his might; feeling the joy rush through his body as the boy recoiled from the sudden contact. The man towering over the boy reeked of alcohol, and his eyes were blood-shot from lack of sleep. Even though he swayed, he seemed to be well aware of the fact that the boy was only to be targeted in places that were usually covered by clothes. The continuous blows struck the boy for what seemed like hours, until the man finally grunted and fisted the boy's hair.

"Damn _BRAT_." The man collected all the saliva in his throat and shot it at the boy in one go, directly hitting the boy's forehead. "I went easy on you because I'm tired today." A sly smile spread across the man's face, making his unsightly teeth visible for the boy to see. He tugged on the boy's hair roughly, pulling the boy's ears just inches away from his own lips. "You're _worthless_. You're _not wanted_. You're _nothing but a pile of fat walking around the face of the Earth_. You'll never grow up to be anything but an_ ugly little fag_. You're better off _dead._" The man's hot breath ghosted over the boy's ears, sending shivers down the boy's spine, as the man chanted the words he always told the boy after the daily beating was over.

"Yessir." The boy choked on his own tears. He couldn't even remember when this started; it seemed so long ago that he actually felt loved.

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"Hey Ryoma!" Kevin caught up with his best friend who was walking to school sluggishly. When Kevin noticed how Ryoma looked so dead tired, he burst out laughing. "Man, what were you doing up at night?"

Ryoma decided against telling his best friend about his situation so he shrugged, "You know what I usually do… Studying all night, its tough." Lying became Ryoma's second nature. Kevin stopped laughing and seized his best friends shoulders, making Ryoma blink in confusion.

"Your right. The day your able to feel anything, it'll be an apocalypse!" Kevin couldn't help but laugh at his own joke, making Ryoma cringe slightly. However, Ryoma just snorted, pushing his best friend away for some space. A slight frown creased Kevin's forehead as he stared at Ryoma in confusion. It confused Kevin how Ryoma was always keeping to himself, how it felt like Ryoma didn't want or _need_ friends.

"Sorry, I have something to do." With that, Ryoma power-walked to the school building, never once looking back at his best friend. Ryoma hated crowds. He wasn't claustrophobic, but he hated it when people touched him. Even the slightest touch froze all the muscle in his body, and his pours exploded all the liquid his body contained. After a long walk, he finally reached his sanctuary where no on would even go near him. The classroom.

As soon as Ryoma entered the classroom, the entire population stiffened and wearily eyed him. Ryoma was well known in school for being a little _emotional_ or _emo_ for short. Ryoma rarely talked to anyone unless it was necessary, and no one in school had ever seen him smile. Echizen Ryoma did not smile. Everyone saw Ryoma as the arrogant brat, always keeping to himself and in everyone's eyes; he was just an eyesore, a waste of space, an abomination that needed to disappear from their world.

Ryoma sighed and looked up at the sky from the classroom window. He brought his hands up to his stomach and gently rubbed it in a circular motion. When his hand gently brushed against the fresh bruise left by the man, he flinched because of sudden the wave of pain that spread throughout his body.

He wished he could just end his life. He wished he could run away. He hated himself for being so weak.

_**Back in Japan…**_

The teen boy, around fourteen to fifteen years, stared blankly at the dark red spot on the brown, tiled floor of the small bathroom. The metallic smell of blood swirled around him, making his head spin a little and twist his face in slight disgust. As if he was going to throw up any moment.

His light blue eyes darted around the room, searching for the already prepared beforehand bandages. Spotting the white, cloth he clumsily took it and started to bandage his right wrist with well known movements; this not being the first time he's done this to himself.

In the middle of bandaging the wrist he suddenly clapped the undamaged hand in front of his mouth, eyes wide and his whole body shaking. He scrambled up from the floor and quickly ran to the toilet and emptied his stomach's contents in it. He coughed a few times before gagging once more and more sounds of vomiting filled the room.

Once he was finally done, his right wrist pulsating with sharp pain and the acid-like taste in his mouth almost making him gag again, did he finish the bandaging and tried to clean up the dark spots of blood that stood out on the floor so clearly.

There was a knock on the doors, his mother's voice coming from the other side. "Eiji! Hurry up and get out of there! You will be late for school." The annoyance in her voice was clear; she never spoke with him nicely and with love showing through her words.

Not even once had Kikumaru Eiji felt loved in this household since his father disappearance.

"I'll be right out." He croaked out as a response, still scrubbing the floor.

"Ungrateful brat." He heard his mother mutter before she spoke a little more loudly, "I left money on the kitchen table, take it before you go out. I have to take care of Sakura." Her footsteps became more distant as she walked away from the door.

Eiji bit his lip and quickly gathered his stuff. Once he was out of the bathroom Eiji walked down the stairs, past the room where his mother was happily playing with his few months old sister. Grabbing the money meant for him he left the house, not bothering to say anything to his parents; they wouldn't answer anyway.

At least not his mother or any of the siblings.

As he slowly walked down the street, not bothering to pay attention to the people passing him by and talking about their own little problems, he unconsciously touched the small locked around his neck with his fingertips. The warm metal felt nice against his flesh, the memories from long ago flickered before his eyes, before being locked up in the deepest part of his being once again.

The depression and will to die burnt a bit lighter but Eiji tried hard to suppress it; no one was to know about this side to him. He didn't want to let anyone, even his friends and family, to see the real him, the complete opposite of the happy-go-lucky character he pretended to be.

That was his mask, his protection, from all the pain the people would cause to him if he were to be abandoned and hurt once again. A bitter laugh escaped past his lips. Since when had he started to believe fairytales so much? Since when did he start to believe that everything would be fine, as long as he pretends to be something he isn't?

He shook his head, "What the hell am I thinking of?" the hand fell next to him, hanging lifelessly besides him.

"Maybe I should just die already." He whispered. His left hand clutched the black school uniform, the other barely holding on to the school bag, still trembling from pain and blood sipping through the bandages, and he looked up at bright blue sky.

His first thought was '_I wish my eyes would burn out now_' but then he changed that thought to a little bit brighter one, but still so very impossible in his eyes. "I wish someone would save me." His lips twisted in a bitter smile, the naked and hurtful truth that such a thing will never happen carving painful, and yet invisible, wounds in his mind.

But he didn't know yet, maybe didn't feel, that at the same time, somewhere far away a child, a year or two younger that him, whispered the same words out at the nightly sky, hot, salty tears rolling down his face and painfully soaking into his open wounds.

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**A/N (MyInfernalInsanity): Oh my God, I'm all hyped up! I've never done Eiji before (those small snippets of him in my BIG stories don't count, yes, they don't.) and doing him all *let me die* like is a bit hard for me. BUT, but, I shall work hard! :D**

**Huhuhu, this is going to be so much fun working together with Ueki on this fic. It has been 'till now at least. :D (Read the 'Epic Battle Whatever' fic thing on my profile for reference materials.) I just hope we won't slack off, I know I probably will, and do.. Stuff… Ok, this is getting too long now. XD**

**A/N #2 (UekiKosuke): LOL I'm STUUUUUUUPER glad the great author, MyInfernalInsanity, agreed to doing this fic with me :D I LOVE HER SO MUCH! Eiji is really emo in this fic and it makes me so sad T-T I can't believe I called Ryoma an abomination **

**-Slaps herself- **

**Anyways, I'll keep my rants short for the sake of…. Everyone XD **

**I hope you enjoyed our first chapter, and reviews will be appreciated~ **


	2. The Hidden Secrets

**_** This fic is a collab work by UekiKosuke and MyInfernalInsanity ** Thank you :)_**

_**Disclaimer: WE DON'T OWN ANYTHING! And by we, I mean by MyInfernalInsanity and myself. (Posting it again, just in case...) I wish PoT was mine tho... **_

_**WARNING: This fic WILL have cutting and it will have rape in the future chapters! It's also going to be boy x boy, so if you don't like, please press the back button or close the tab ^^**_

_********__-Ryoma's bit was written by UekiKosuke and Eiji's bit was written by MyInfernalInsanity ^^_

_********__Please Enjoy the next chapter~ less than three :3_

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_**Chapter 2 – The Hidden Secrets**_

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**_In America..._**

The bell rang, signaling both his freedom and his hell. His heart clenched painfully in his chest, as his lungs seemed to be leaking all the air he tried to breathe in. He noticed that his classmates were staring at him, which didn't increase his comfort level. Ryoma eyed them from the corners of his eyes and silently begged for them to leave. As always, luck was not on his side today. The entire population of the room, minus Ryoma, slowly moved towards him, smirking, and snickering at him.

"Freak. Emo. Loser…" Each word cut through Ryoma's already non-existing heart. But on the other hand, those words brought laughter and joy to the others. They laughed; pointing at Ryoma, making faces, running their hands through their wrists, mocking the fact that they thought Ryoma was 'emo'. Ryoma remained silent, and his expression hardened. The way Ryoma reacted seemed to be pouring oil into a burning fire as one of the kids picked up a pair of scissors and chucked it at Ryoma, leaving the boy with a deep cut running from his forehead to his right eyelid.

"Go cut yourself and _die_!" The insensitive words, carelessly and spitefully thrown by his 'friends', stung more than the cut on his forehead did. Ryoma visibly cringed when they all turned their backs in unison as the blood from the fresh cut seeped into his eyeballs, bleaching his eyes red. It stung. Oh yes, it stung a lot, but he couldn't move. His entire body system froze, disabling him from any movements.

He sat in his lonely chair for what seemed like hours, until he slowly got up and forced his legs to bring him home. With each step, his heartbeat slowed down, desperately hoping with all his heart that '_the man_' hadn't arrived yet.

Finally reaching his own house, Ryoma wearily opened the gates and stepped in. When he walked into his house, he could already feel his doom waiting for him.

"Yo, brat." The man dressed in brown greeted with a cigarette snug between his lips. Ryoma flinched noticeably and side-stepped away from the man he once called father.

"Ta… Tadaima…" Ryoma fearfully, but respectively, bowed his head slightly, acknowledging the fact that he was home. The man smirked and moved closer towards Ryoma till he was just inches away from him.

"So brat, how was school?" The man asked in a mocking tone. When Ryoma didn't say anything, the man che'd and took his cigarette with his index finger and his middle finger. The cigarette fitted perfectly between his fingers, eagerly burned, wanting to burn something. "Didn't I ask you a question boy?" The man chuckled to himself. "My, my, I'll have to punish you now…"and without a warning, he swiftly rammed the burning end of his cigarette on Ryoma's right shoulder. Ryoma shrieked in pain and tried to turn away, but the man knocked him to the ground and was already straddling him.

"No… Please…" Tears streamed down Ryoma's face as he struggled to get free.

"My boy, no one's here to save you anymore. You're alone. You're nobody. You will never know how it feels like to be loved. You will fail in life and die a pitiful death." The man laughed like a maniac and drew out a knife from behind him. Ryoma's eyes widened in horror when the man revealed his new torture device, "So I'll help you, and end this miserable life of yours _for you_!" Ryoma squeezed his lungs till his last breath, screaming, begging for mercy as the blade dug into his skin. The man traced the blade down Ryoma's chest, eyes glistening in madness. The cut wasn't deep enough to kill anyone. But it was enough to make a teenaged boy cry in agony. The man's laughter and Ryoma's screams mixed in one, rang throughout the neighborhood that night as well, lulling the town people to sleep.

**WORD VOMIT PAGE BREAK! SDFJ:OWIEJF:OIE:NFDJBNFLEJWFO:IWEJ:WENF:WEFJPRINCEOFTENNISFORTHEWIN**

Time in school flew past just like any other day. Ryoma was non-existent in the classroom as he merged with the walls. When lunchtime came however, Ryoma was unwillingly dragged into eating lunch with his blond best friend.

"Hey man, did you hear the kid screaming last night?" Kevin's unexpectedly serious question froze Ryoma.

"What?" Ryoma decided to question his friend. He swallowed hard, afraid that he had gotten exposed. Kevin blinked in confusion at the sudden interest from the usually ignorant boy.

"Well, you know that horrible racket you hear every night?" Ryoma bit his lips and nodded in response. "Yesterday, the screaming was worse than usual." Kevin shuddered at the memory. "It was painful listening to it." Ryoma clenched the loaf of bread he was holding, which spewed out cream.

"Is that right…" Ryoma whispered just loud enough for Kevin to hear. Surprisingly, Kevin sighed and brought his hands up, scratching his head.

"I wish I knew who was screaming. I wish I knew who was in so much pain…" Kevin muttered, his expression hardening.

"And?" Ryoma whipped his head towards the other direction, avoiding eye contact with Kevin.

"Hm?" Kevin craned his neck, trying to examine his friend.

"What are you going to do when you find out?" Ryoma asked; his eyes clouded with the darkness of his heart.

"I'm not sure actually…" Kevin chuckled to himself. "What is an idiot like me supposed to do in that situation?" Kevin took a big bite out of his loaf of bread and took a sip of milk. Ryoma's silently glided his fingers lightly across his chest. Hiding behind the tightly wrapped bandage was a wound his own father left him. The horrors of last night rushed back to him. Ryoma gagged as the loaf of bread he just consumed rushed up his body system.

"Hey you okay?" Kevin asked, but before anything else could be said or done, Ryoma lowered his head and he vomited. He coughed a couple of times, getting everything out of his system as the tears flowed out. Ryoma fell to his knees and cried pathetically drowning in his vomit. The metallic smell of his own content filled his nose, as the taste took over in his mouth. While all this was happening, Kevin was speechless. Never in his life had he seen anyone in this much pain. He rushed towards his vomiting friend and patted his back, helping him.

"I'm fine… I just need to –" Before the sentence could come to a conclusion, Ryoma rushed towards the bathroom leaving Kevin alone, terrified.

What terrified Kevin the most was, the fact that Ryoma came back a couple of minutes later, completely fine, in his gym clothes.

"Dude, Ryoma you have to go to the nu-"

Ryoma cut him off with a sharp glare. "No. I'm fine. Let's just get to class."

**WORD VOMIT PAGE BREAK! SDFJ:OWIEJF:OIE:NFDJBNFLEJWFO:IWEJ:WENF:WEFJPRINCEOFTENNISFORTHEWIN**

"_KEVIN!" _Kevin's mother shrieked from downstairs. Kevin lazily got up from his bed, placing the book he was reading on his pillow.

"COMING!" He called back. He wondered what could be working his mother up like that and rushed down the stairs to his house to find his best friend collapsed in his front doorstep with only a thin bed sheet covering him up. "Wha…. What happened?" Kevin rushed over and slumped over Ryoma, examining every inch of his body. He couldn't help but to gasp at the number of bruises that decorated Ryoma's body. His wrists had small cuts in them as well as a big purple bruise; his cheeks had streaks of dried tears plastered onto them, and worst of all, his anus… White substance oozed through the thin cloth wrapped loosely around him, and trailed down his side staining Kevin's carpet. Kevin scrunched his nose as the salty scent of the liquid caught his nose. With shaky hands, Kevin lifted the blanket up to find Ryoma's chest bounded in bandages clumsily. He gently undid the bandages and gasped, and like Ryoma earlier, his stomach content poured out in an instant. And that's when Ryoma spoke.

"Kevin…. Help me… Please…." And the two broke into tears.

_**Back in Japan...**_

He walked into the school grounds, the usual happy-go-lucky mask in its place. The people around him were happily talking about what they did on the weekend, only true emotions playing on their faces and in their voices, Eiji almost choked, whether from disgust or jealousy he didn't know himself, and forced his body to move deeper into the territory.

The people that were supposed to be his friends were already in the classroom and chatted with each other about the latest move in the theaters; how good it was, the characters in it and what parts of the book were left out.

"Oh, good morning Kikumaru. Didn't see you there." Oishi said, a genuinely friendly smile on his face and eyes closed, in a friendly manner. Though, he only said that once Eiji dropped his bag, louder that necessary, on his desk. A small attempt to get their attention.

Fake emotions on his face, he made a cheerful laugh: "It's ok nya." God, he hated to add the cat-like sounds to his speech. "I just got here; overslept a bit. What are you talking about there, with Fujiko and Momo-chi?"

Momo scratched his head, grinning like an idiot all the while. "The new movie. The one about the wizards and the strange creatures, you know, the new one. I finally got to see it the day before yesterday, so now we can finally talk it over without giving me spoilers." He laughed again, punching Oishi a mock punch on the shoulder.

"I still think that the bad guy was the best out of them all." Fuji added as a matter of fact. His always permanent smile in place, even when he turned his head to speak with Eiji, "What do you think Eiji? You usually like the bad guys, don't you?" his voice held little interest.

Eiji smiled, "I haven't seen that movie yet, I had to help my parents during the weekend." That was an obvious lie; Eiji scowled in his head, but just like all the times before, his 'friends' didn't seem to notice it.

Fuji seemed to carefully study his face, trying to see past the fake mask maybe, Eiji couldn't tell, and was about to say something. But at that time the teacher came in, signaling the start of the lesson. Her voice was monotone as she spoke, almost lulling Eiji to sleep. He ignored her and turned his head in the direction of the window, even if he wasn't sitting next to it (there were two more rows of students between him and it) he could still feel the gentle breeze blowing in the classroom.

The whole day went by like that, nothing out of the usual routine really happened, everything was the same as any other day. He said goodbye to his friends (adding _so called _in his head) and headed down the road, seemingly in the direction of his hose. Once he was sure that no unwanted eyes were following him, Eiji quickly turned in some shady looking alley. He avoided the toppled trash cans and the puddles of the rotting substances and maneuvered deeper into the darkness.

Once he was in front of a slightly rusted metal door he pulled the small locked from underneath his shirt. It swayed from the sudden movements and the little light that got in the deserted place reflected from it with its each movement. Eiji took the key-shaped locker and pushed into the small keyhole, opening the lock with a small 'click' and then pushing the door open, the metal creaking when it was forcefully moved.

His phone chose to ring the moment he stepped inside the dark room, used as a small warehouse at the moment. Eiji slid his hand into the pocket of his school pants and took out the small device, without looking at the caller ID he flipped it open.

"Yes?" his voice formal, as if he knew who was calling him.

"_Where the hell are you Min? Your buyers will be snatched away by others if you don't hurry up and drag your ass here. Got that?_" the voice on the other end seemed to yell some orders between talking with Eiji. The irritation clear and vivid.

Eiji sighed, balancing the phone between his shoulder and ear while he grabs a few packages with the white powdery substance or colorful pills in them. "Well sorry Sai, but as I have said before, I have the goddamn school and whatever. I can't just walk around the city with drugs on me. Who knows what will happen if a cop decides to check me."

"_I don't fucking care. Just get your ass here as fast as you can and maybe I won't have to fucking punish you. Again._" The one called Sai ended the conversation and left the warning hang up in the air as a dangerous shadow over the teen.

After locking the door and hiding the pendant under his shirt Eiji ran to the usual meeting place, once again maneuvering through the small alleys and streets with little people on them. This was a road that he knew so well from going through it almost every day, while doing his patrols around the neighborhood and searching for new customers.

It didn't take long for Eiji to get to the usual market place, hidden form the police and people who shouldn't know about this place. He walked past the drug addicts and sellers, people who he knew so well, and settled in the same place as always.

"Min, you're finally here." A paper white girl, her dirty dark brown hair sticking to her face and eyes glazed over, called out. Her skeleton thin hands already holding a sum of money needed to buy the next dose. "I was waiting for you to come, since you sell the best stuff. No extra ingredients you know." She laughed weakly and allowed the paper and metal money to land on the wooden table.

Eiji counted the sum with his eyes. "I had some… problems, so I came late today. Sorry about that Aya." He reached inside his bag, "Pills, powder or liquid? Maybe your tastes have changed from the last time."

"T-the pills. I don't like the needles, they scare me." She laughed nervously again and after getting her hands on the small bag of pills ran off somewhere, all the while looking around nervously as if someone might come and attack her any moment.

There were few more people like her; pail, week, scared and controlled by the drugs. He just sold and took money that they brought him. Stolen from their parents or something they got from exchanging the valuables, like silver, gold or a stolen radio or maybe even a TV.

"I see that you're doing good Min." Sai's cold voice drifted from behind Eiji. The little hairs on the teens back stood up and he turned to look at the man he feared so.

Eiji managed to pull his lips in a forced smile, as if that would fool the man in front of him. "Yeah. I already have something to give back to you. See?" he pushed the small pile of money to Sai, hoping that at least today the ringleader of all this will be merciful.

"Hmm…" Sai looked thoughtful for a movement and then smirked, obviously pleased by today's income from Eiji's deals. "It seems that a little bit of our dept is returned to me today, once again." He slapped the teens butt and gathered the cash. "See you tomorrow too, _Eiji-chan._"

The shiver that crawled up Eiji's spine was one of fear and disgust. His body remembered the touches and feelings that that man made it feel, so clearly etched in his body was the fear from that one man. Eiji had to clutch on the table to keep himself from collapsing, his legs no longer strong enough to keep him up on their own.

When he walked home, it seemed like the world was spinning a little. Due to hunger and sickness, Eiji concluded when he threw up in one of the alleys. His wrist started to hurt again, the scratch marks from his nails bleeding a little. "I'm a masochist." He mumbled to himself, eyes looking at the blood dirtying his school uniform.

Maybe, just maybe, tomorrow would be better.

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Just for the hell of it, another word vomit here i come! jfa;oiejaf;oieflajwebnlfabwelfajew;oifjaew;o :3

**A/N (MyInfernalInsanity)****: I can't write drug dealers/users. I suck at this. And suicidal Eiji is still so hard to do~~ . Maybe in the next chapter Eiji will be less… Depressing-ish? Though, I highly doubt it, since this **_**is **_**a depressing story. **

**I hope Ueki is having less problems with characterization that me. :D **

**A/N (UekiKosuke)****: Wow, I nearly cried while writing this and reading the part my awesome cyber buddy wrote T-T The next chapter hopefully wont be as… uh… angsty as this one was, and well… Kevins helping Ryoma so it should be all good… yup… **

**This is a change of character huh? I mean, Ryoma being abused, sure been there done that, but Eiji? Really? Its just kinda cool I guess X3 And MyInfernalInsanity does an awesome job in portraying it right? :P **


	3. Entwining Strings

_**Disclaimer: WE DON'T OWN ANYTHING! And by we, I mean by MyInfernalInsanity and myself. (Posting it again, just in case...) I wish PoT was mine tho...**_

_**WARNING: This fic WILL have cutting and it will have rape in the future chapters! It's also going to be boy x boy, so if you don't like, please press the back button or close the tab ^^**_

_********__-Ryoma's bit was written by UekiKosuke and Eiji's bit was written by MyInfernalInsanity ^^_

_********__Please Enjoy the next chapter~ less than three :3_

_********__

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**Chapter 3 - Entwining Strings**

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**In America...**

_He didn't try to run from the man. _

_It was futile to do so; all the times before were just like that. The second his eyes gave away the hope, thoughts of escape or simple pleads he was beaten. _

_So this time was like all the ones before. _

_He was thrown on the ground, his clothes ripping in the process and parts of cloth fell on and around him. His bare flesh at some parts shone though the black shirt, the man laughing sickeningly from up above at the exposure. _

_Ryoma tried to hold the tears back, because if he cried it would only hurt more. He didn't plead, since it was useless to do so, his father never listened to them, only made it longer and hurtful for him._

_His wrists were tied above his head, the rope cutting into the skin sharply and he whined. The rough, calloused hand flew past his cheek, coloring it red and making him grow still for a moment; the shock was unwanted._

"_Shut the fuck up, you freak." Nanjirou growled low in his throat and licked Ryoma's neck, "Or it'll hurt more. Got that, freak?" he chuckled to himself and resumed to tear off Ryoma's clothes._

_The teen now lied naked on the cold floor, dirt and garbage underneath his back, the dirty man, smelling of cheap alcohol, above him. The unkempt fingernails scratched his skin, leaving ugly lines of red behind on the otherwise pale skin. _

_Blood sipped though at some parts._

_Ryoma's body trembled, not from pleasure but fear, as the man looked down on him and licked his lips, the dark eyes glinting dangerously in the dark. When those hands grabbed his legs tighter, fingernails once again cutting his skin, and forced them apart Ryoma looked away, tears streaming down his face._

_His head was forced back, making him look straight into his father's crazed eyes. "No, no, no, no, no… I want to see the fear in your eyes. Clear, vivid and so wonderfully arousing." Another laugh cut though the stale air of the house, a nasty mix of urine and rot, cutting though the lightly golden evening light. "I like to see that fear, you now. It gives me such… Stimulation."_

_After those words Nanjirou pushed his aroused cock into Ryoma. The splitting pain blasted through his whole body, a raw scream breaking out of his mouth as he felt something being torn. It was like all the other times, yet hurt far worse. His back lifted from the floor, small scratched on it already, as he was being pounded into._

_Without mercy or consideration._

_He heard the maniacal laugh in the background before blacking out. For the last time, he hoped._

- (Enter Word Vomit) -

Ryoma's eyes painfully cracked open after being asleep for what seemed like hours. He stared blankly at the plain white ceiling. _'Soft...' _Ryoma mumbled to himself lightly stroking the bed he was resting on. Ryoma's lips twitched upwards nearly forming a curve, '_I think... I might be dead...'_ he thought to himself as a single drop of tear glistened in the corner of his eyes.

"Finally awake Ryoma?" Ryoma swiveled around to face the source of voice and cringed at the sharp pain that shot up his spine. Kevin rushed over almost instantly and grabbed Ryoma's shoulders, supporting him up and leaning him against the bed post.

"Kevin, what are you...?" Ryoma finally noticed he wasn't in his house. "Or... What am I...?" Kevin blinked at the question asked. Didn't he remember what happened last night?

"Ryoma... you came here, willingly, by yourself..." Kevin scratched the back of his neck and watched as a dark shadow casted apon Ryoma's face.

"Kevin, please, _please,_ don't tell anyone about this..." And thats when hell broke loose. Ryoma burst into silent sobs, burrying his face into Kevin's thick blanket. He sobbed till his hearts content, from all of the silence and lies... Kevin could only walk over and pat Ryoma on the shoulder to help him ease the pain that couldn't heal completely.

"The man... Every night... The man hurt me" Kevin flinched at the honest confession, but at the same time, felt ashamed for the fact that he wasn't there to be there with Ryoma. "But he never went this far..." Ryoma moaned into the blanket in agony. A different kind of cry Kevin used to hear at night.

"_Oooorahhh!"_ Ryoma released a horrifying scream that would have woken up the entire country and stumbled out of bed. The more Kevin watched, the more his heart shattered. Kevin didn't realize with Ryoma was reaching for until he forcefully jerked Kevins drawer open and found a pair of scissors.

The blonde's jaw dropped open as he desperatly called for Ryoma. "Ryo! What are you! Put that thing down! Please... I dont want you to go..." Kevin softly sobbed, watching his best friend aim the blade at his wrist, then drop the device he was holding. Ryoma moaned in pure agony, falling to his knees, tears no longer available to reveal itself.

It was then, when Kevin decided for the best. "Hey, Ryo?" Kevin Hesitently called out for his friend. "You want to go to Japan with my dad?"

After a long concideration, Ryoma ended up flying to Japan with Kevins dad. Unlike Kevin, his dad wasn't so talkative and wasn't the type that would pry into other's buisiness, so they flew in comfortable silence. In the past, Ryoma and Kevins dad used to be best friends as well, but due to an event never to be mentioned, they stopped talking to each other and became each other's number one enemy.

Upon arrival, Kevins dad dropped Ryoma off to his cousins house who was surprised by the sudden contact from his 'insensitive' cousin. Without a nother word... or... without a single word, Kevins dad took off to his own hotel leaving Ryoma alone in his true home country.

Thankfully, Nanako, Ryoma's cousin didn't ask about his sudden arrival, but just greeted him with open arms, pulling him into a tight hug. Ryoma stared past his cousin glumly, observing his new place. It was nice. It was open with a very big garden, and the house was very... Japanese.

"Ryoma... Welcome to your new home..." Nanako murmered into Ryoma's soft hair.

_'Home?' _Ryoma mentally snorted. '_Hardly...'_

_- (Enter Word Vomit) -  
_

Of course, the first day of school is always tough. Especially when just two nights ago you had to move and change your life completely. Ryoma sighed and entered the gates which seemed to intimidate him already. Finding his way to the principle's office was like looking for a trophy in the middle of a city-sized maze. Seigaku was a place which was unfamiliar to Ryoma in alot of different ways. First of all, in America, Ryoma didnt need uniforms. But in Japan, you were forced to wear your school uniforms to Ryoma's distaste. He could get away with not wearing one since this _is_ his first day. So, he wore casual jeans and a baggy t-shirt, hiding all his lean muscular feature.

"The... Office..." Ryoma mumbled, looking at the map given to him by his cousin and scratched his head. "This should be it..." Much to Ryoma's surprise, the door didn't have a door knob on it; and instead, it was one of those weird, old Japanese doors that silded open. "Excuse me-" Ryoma notified the people inside that he was here and soond the door slid open.

"Ah yes, we've been waiting for you, please come in." The directer looked kind enough. Ryoma raised his eyebrow and cautiously walked in. "Now, please wait a moment for your guide around school to appear." Ryoma awkwardly stood around and listen to the directer talk about the history of Seigaku. Naturally, the directer was completely ignored as Ryoma just observed his new surroundings.

After what seemed like hours, the directer finally shut up and called for his guide to come in. Ryoma nearly openly gasped at the ruby red hair the boy had. Then all his attention went to the his beautifully broken face. The boy was smiling, but Ryoma could tell, that the boy was just as broken as he was. Ryoma broke his mask for a second from looking at the boy but composed himself just as quickly.

"Kikumaru-kun, this is Echizen Ryoma." The other adult in the room announced. "Take good care of him."

**In Japan...**

Eiji woke up with a gasp, his body sweaty and trembling. His fingers were clenching the blanket, far too thin for the chilly nights, while his eyes searched the dark room, checking for something invisible that might hurt or endanger him.

"Damn." He averted his eyes from the small strikes of light coming from the hallway behind his closed doors. Damn it all." He punched his bed; the mattress creaked lightly, as if it was crying in his place.

- (Enter Word Vomit) -

He never managed to fall asleep again that night. The still lingering memories of what Sai had done just days ago forced his mind to stay awake, guarding from the nightmares and memories. It was never easy; the more he tried the more vivid they became.

"I'm going!" he called out. His foster father never liked it when he didn't tell them that he's going out, not like his mother.

"Be here before five, guests are coming today." Eiji's mom yelled back at him, a happy squeal of his baby sister pricking in his ears. "It is important to your father Eiji."

He wanted to glare at her, that man was not his father and never will be. In fact, he hated that man. Giving a curt nod, even though no one saw it, Eiji left the house, ignoring what his so called _father_ said. With slow steps he walked down the road, back to school, back to pretending to be happy and lying to others and himself.

The small cell phone in his pocked rang, the soft melody of some classical piece he had heard on the radio fluttered around him. Just one look at the screen and his morning went from bad to worse. It wasn't something he had expected of Sai.

"Hello?" his voice hesitant, not the first _or_ last time.

A chuckle, "_What? Thought that it was someone else? Fat chance Min, fat chance._" Another dark chuckle followed, not like the harmless one that Fuji usually makes. "_Whatever… I need you today, but right now would be better. So get here._"

"I can't today." Eiji stopped, seeing the red light "That woman wants me home." He sneered, but then his eyes caught a glint of gold in the car driving past him. It was only for a moment, but none-the-less he had seen the same shattered image, or even worse actually, as he himself.

He looked as the car sped down the road, disappearing from his sight eventually. "_Tch, and here I thought that I should do something nice and show you how real dealers work._"

"So you just wanted me to stand behind you and clap like some retarded seal while you break someone's arms, legs or skull? I'm still a student; I can't be seen doing those things. How many times do I have to repeat? "

"_Whatever._" The line was cut dead, only the rhythmical beeping stayed behind.

The red in the traffic-light hadn't changed yet.

- (Enter Word Vomit) -

"So, if you put this here and multiply this x with the two you will get the formula you need. Any questions so far?" the math teacher turned around to face the class. A bright smile was on her lips. "If not, then let us continue."

Eiji wanted to sigh and curse, but his mask didn't allow it, keeping his face and emotions in check. He tapped the blank leaf in his notebook with the rubber of his pencil; chew marks on the wood could be spotted.

None of the other students paid much attention to what he was doing, sitting at the end of the class. They were too busy stuffing their already overly stressed and overworked heads with mathematical formulas and solutions, just like the good programmed little robots they were. It was a wonder why Eiji wasn't one of them.

A tap on the door and another teacher, history as Eiji deducted, came in. She whispered a few words to her colleague, who in turn smiled even brighter and turned to the class.

"Kikumaru-kun, will you please go with Shinonome-sensei? You are to show the new student around the school." She waved at him, that silly smile still on her face.

Inwardly – Eiji swore and grumbled about the unfairness of the whole thing, on the outside, however, he jumped up in his seat and grinned. "Hoi, hoi sensei! I'll do it nya~!" he hated to act like a damn idiot every time people though that he would be good for things like this.

But in truth, he was somewhat glad to be able to skip the stuffiness of the classroom.

Quickly gathering his stuff and answering some witty remarks Eiji left the class, following closely behind the history teacher, her name had escaped his mind at the moment. It was a quiet walk, just like all the other times. But he had to keep up with his pretend game.

"Ne, ne. Sensei. What's the new kid like?" he asked, fake enthusiasm coloring his words as he jumped up and down next to her.

She shook her head; fingertips pushing up the glasses, "He's a bit shy, I think, but a good kid. Very polite too, only doesn't talk much. His name is Echizen Ryoma-kun, be nice to him ok, Kikumaru-kun?" she ruffled his red hair and chuckled to herself.

"Haaai…" the hand on his head was warm, so very, very warm, but that single touch… Eiji wanted to wince and pull away, allowing the trembles to shake his body, but didn't. He had to be strong and make everyone believe… Believe that he's ok, that it's not that bad, and that he's happy.

Too bad he couldn't make himself believe it too.

Once they were at the director's, a round and kind old man, office, he had to wait outside for a while; he was still talking to the new kid, Echizen Ryoma was his name, it turns out. He sat in one of the not-so-soft chairs that most likely came from the time when the director was just as young as him and waited. There was nothing else to do anyway and it was his chance to relax a bit. Just for a moment.

When he was finally allowed to join the conversation, he had almost fallen asleep at one point because of the sleepless night, he stood up and jumped on place first; the numbness was a bit annoying.

He thought that the new kid would be just your usual boring kid, the average type. But the first thing he saw when entering the room was the flash of golden and then the delicate face that should have belonged to a girl, not a boy. Yet those eyes, still looked so void of emotion and broken, just like his. But maybe that was just a trick of light.

"Kikumaru-kun, this is Echizen Ryoma." The history teacher announced. "Take good care of him."

* * *

**A/N (MyInfernalInsanity): *Le Gasp!* They meet! O.O What will happen now! **

**Ueki's the best cyber-buddy there is. Gives me a lot of strange and creepy ideas for plots and helps to cure that 'maybe-I'll-do-it-tomorrow' disease. :D**

**But damn, Eji's getting mysterious, I think…**

**A/N (UekiKosuke): UUUWAHH! THE TWO FINALLY MEET! And the late update was completely my fault =\ I take full responsibility for this XD but eh ehhhh~ doesn't this look nice tho? :3 Its niccce~ and looong~ XD**

**From both of us: Thank you for reading~ ^^~ -Less than three :3- **


	4. Behind the Smile

_**Disclaimer: WE DON'T OWN ANYTHING! And by we, I mean by MyInfernalInsanity and myself. (Posting it again, just in case...) I wish PoT was mine tho...**_

_**WARNING: This fic WILL have cutting and it will have rape in the future chapters! It's also going to be boy x boy, so if you don't like, please press the back button or close the tab ^^**_

_********__-Ryoma's bit was written by UekiKosuke and Eiji's bit was written by MyInfernalInsanity ^^_

_********__Please Enjoy the next chapter~ less than three :3_

* * *

They both were now standing in one of the many hallways of the school. Eiji was left with the duty of showing the new kid around the school, even if he didn't really want to do it. At first. Now… Something pulled him closer to the beauty next to him, familiarity perhaps?

"So, here are all the classrooms for the first years, the next floor is for the second years and third years are on the third." He faked a smile and did a 180 degree turn, "I'm gonna take you to the arts department now. Let's go, nya!" he bounced off, the smile slipping off of his lips the moment he wasn't facing the new kid.

"Most of your lessons will happen in your own classroom, but stuff like music, arts, sports and home economics will happen in different parts of the school." He continued while they walked down the hall and came closer to the arts department. "You can ask your classmates to help you get there. Or me, if we happen to meet!" he turned around one more time, flashing a grin, "I will be glad to help you, nya."

The new kid stared at him, eyes not blinking and head tilted on one side a bit. For the first time, since they were introduced, he spoke. "Can you show me where the cafeteria is? Because, like you said, my classmates can show me where the rest of the classes are."

Eiji blinked. And smirked on the inside. He could get out of this faster than expected. Awesome. "Sure nya. If you want it that way." He looked around himself and pointed at the staircase. "Let's go there, it's faster that way."

Once again the new kid just followed him obediently, as if he had lost all his will to stand on his own. Though, Eiji could understand how it felt, being broken and empty on the inside, not being able to make the pain go away and finally be able to cry out all the pent up tears. But maybe, the new kid, Echizen Ryoma, Eiji corrected himself, wasn't like him. Or maybe was?

"Either way!" he quickly became the other Eiji again and laughed, "I won't tell you the school's history and stuff like that, no one usually cares anyway." He could feel Ryoma yawning behind him. He hated this as much as the boy behind him.

He heard Ryoma sigh. "I guess it's pretty boring, huh?" Eiji laughed one more time, that fake, glassy laugh made his head hurt. Disgusting, really. "Don't worry, I'll end it all soon. Just bear with it a little longer, 'k?"

"Hai." Another yawning sound, "It's just that… I haven't been sleeping well for some time now." The tiredness sipped through the boy's voice. Well, not that Eiji was any better, thanks to the nightmares about Sai.

They walked past the full classrooms where the teachers voices were lulling the students to sleep, through the empty hallways, were not a single other life could be seen right now, and passed the inner yard of the school. The P.E. class was going on at the moment.

Tennis.

Eiji wondered on the inside, _How long has it been since I last played? Probably since my old man's sudden disappearance years ago and the day when I met Sai in that alley. Ah, I wanna play again. _

"Tennis." A small whisper next to him made the red-head look down. Ryoma was looking at the courts with half lidded eyes; the longing was shown in them. Though, Eiji chose to ignore it. It looked that it wasn't his place to meddle in.

Not that he wanted to actually. Some things are meant to be hidden or could be revealed only when the person in question whishes to do so. So it was better to leave it at that. "Let's go, nya." Ryoma slowly followed him again.

"So, this is the cafeteria. Nothing much, but the food is good." He smiled again. "Wanna go back to class now? Or is there something else you wanna see, huh, Echizen-kun?" Eiji did a strange jump and twirl thing.

Ryoma looked up at him and shook his head. "I'm fine; I remember the way, so I'll be going back now." He did a small nod with his head and started to walk away. But then he turned around to face Eiji again and asked, "Aren't you in pain?"

With that the younger boy left, leaving a shocked Eiji standing in the hallway all alone. Those few words left such an impact on the red-head; someone had seen past his mask, past his lies and desperate tries of hiding the ugly truth about himself.

It hurt.

He dragged his body back to his own class, mind playing Ryoma's words over and over and over again, his body shaking from the pain, relief and fear so hard it was pathetic to watch. His fingers had gone icy cold and his breath came out in short, quick puffs of air, chest tightening and some of the nightmares coming back in such unwanted vividness.

It hurt.

"I'll skip today." He adjusted the bag on his shoulder, "I'll skip. I'll just skip." Doing quick glance around the deserted hallways he tried to calm down and, without a warning, started to run. Past the trees and some of the students that came back from the P.E. lessons, he turned here and there. He finally reached the one place where he could easily jump over the fence and blend with the busy city.

SHAAAAAA (Yours truly, MyInfernalInsanity)

As Ryoma headed back, he bit his lips and cursed his habit of just speaking his thoughts. "I shouldn't have said anything… I should've kept my mouth shut…" He mumbled repetitively, slapping himself on the forehead. The moment his eyes spotted Eiji, he could tell that Eiji was the same as him. He didn't try and question him, but the way Eiji acted disgusted Ryoma; to be frank. But the fake smile, the fake laughter… Ryoma just couldn't take it anymore. He stopped when he got to the door and knocked a couple of times before he heard nothing from the other side of the door.

"Oh right! I haven't told you yet, but we have a new student coming!" Quiet murmurs followed the announcement. Apparently, Ryoma had to be stuck with the most cheeriest homeroom teacher in the entire school. He cursed his luck under his breath. "Please, come in!" Ryoma sighed and took out the cap given to him by Kevin as a goodbye gift, and put it on low. He put his hand on the sliding door and slowly slid it open. Gasps could be heard when Ryoma took his first step into the classroom. When he fully entered and closed the door, he walked to the front centre of the class without looking up. The cap he was wearing was thankfully low enough to conceal his eyes from the intruders.

"Please, introduce yourself." His new homeroom teacher's smile nearly blinded the world.

Ryoma bit his lips, stopping himself from trembling openly. He never liked talking in front of others. "Name's Echizen Ryoma. Yoroshiku." Ryoma made his introductions short and simple and just out of curiosity, he gently pushed his cap up to observe the faces of his new classmates. He gasped at all the attention he was receiving, and all the stares… he was relieved that their stares weren't cold, but was rather eager to get to know about their new classmate. The rest of the introductions went by as a blur as they had question and answer time. There were several personal questions asked such as, 'why did you move?'; 'do you have a girlfriend?'; 'is that your natural hair color?' and all these questions were shushed by his homeroom teacher before he could even register what they were talking about.

"Ryoma-kun, why don't you go to your seat, right next to… Horio-kun right at the back." His teacher pointed her finger at an empty seat next to the window. Ryoma mentally thanked his new homeroom teacher and slowly walked over to his new seat. Unlike America, the people here didn't seem to judge him too much… yet. But judging by how the boy guiding him was acting like, he could tell that people in this school preferred revolting happiness than the truth.

Ryoma slowly walked to his seat, ignoring all the stares he was getting. He was fortunate to have his first class as English. Seeing as he just moved from America, he had the benefit of daydreaming during that one particular class, so he used his time wisely and dozed off.

...

'_Ryoma~ Where are you mah boy?'_

'_Right here daddy!' I ran with all my might, running straight into my father's warm, welcoming arms. _

'_You ready for some tennis Ryoma?' I nodded; excited about the day we would spend together._

'_Imma beat you today daddy!' I glared at him, determined to beat him that day._

'_Show me what you've got!' _

_Show me what you've got…_

_The setting changed._

'_Show me what you've got Ryoma…' It was cold. I was trembling. In fear perhaps? I wasn't sure anymore. Everything froze in that spot. My mom thrashed, she screamed, she grabbed for things and threw them everywhere. My father; my father was laughing, he dodged the materials flung his way, he screamed… he didn't care. _

_No one noticed me crying._

_...  
_

"Had a nice nap Ryoma?" A tall man towered over him, holding a massive stick in his hands. Ryoma quickly wiped his fallen tears on his sleeves and pretended to yawn.

"Sorry sir." Ryoma apologized in English. The tall men looked taken back and allowed a small smile to feature his face.

"It's okay. I'll let it pass since it's your first day, but make sure you pay attention in class okay? Oh and please call me Yuichiro-sensei." His English teacher marched to the front of the class and the class ended with bowing to their teacher. Ryoma was slightly shocked, as he was not used to this yet.

Ah… Break time; Sweet, sweet break time… or so he thought.

Everyone gathered around Ryoma in an instant and interrogated him, flooding him with questions. The over-friendliness of the atmosphere suffocated Ryoma; but of course, the others didn't care about Ryoma's irritation and continued to harass Ryoma with all their thoughts. A blockade of students was made around Ryoma and he knew he had no escape. He was bombarded with questions he didn't know the answers to… His eyes rolled back and the last thing he saw was the ceiling before darkness consumed him.

…

"… Echizen? Oh my God! Echizen!"

SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (Yours truly, MyInfernalInsanity)

"_WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING YOU UNGRATEFUL CHILD!"_ his mother's screeches rang through the house and pierced his ears. The moment he had stepped inside the house she was next to him and started to scream at him. "Do you really think I'm sending you to that damn school so that you could do whatever the hell you want?"

Apparently, the school had given his parents a call about his mysterious absence and now… Now the woman he was forced to call mother was, once again, screaming at him at the top of her lungs about what a letdown of a son he is and it would have been better if he had never been born.

It was tormenting and agonizing to listen to her. Yes, he was the son of the man that had cheated, beaten and used that woman, but that did not mean that he, Eiji, his son was the same. He was a part of that woman and man, something they both created. He _was not_ responsible for whatever they had done. So it hurt, it hurt so much to hear those words, all those disgusting words, thrown at him once again.

And then, all his thoughts came to a halt when those sharp nails of his mother's bony hand scraped deep wounds in his cheek, something that will be a long reminder of the slap he just received. His cheek burnt from the sharp pain and he could feel the small drops of blood sliding down his white skin.

"Listen to me, you ungrateful…" she wheezed and shot him a disgusted look. "Why do you think I actually gave birth to you, huh? Why do you think I cared for you all this time? Maybe it would have been better to kill you when I had the chance, look at what you have become! The same as that man." It was written on her face that what she felt towards Eiji was only disgust and hate. Though, even hate was a soft way of calling that emotion.

He touched his wounded cheek and glared at his mother from under his bangs, the woman flinched and was about to yell again, her hand already raised for another slap, but his stepfather's commanding voice stopped her. Such a shame, it would be nice to know how far she was ready to go against her own flesh and blood.

"What is the meaning of this, Mei, Eiji?" the man looked with stern eyes at both his wife and stepson. "Have you been fighting again boy?" he didn't care that that it was obvious that his mother had done this. He never did.

Eiji stood up from where he had slumped on the floor, he never realized he had done that, and gritted his teeth. "..ia.."

"What was that? Speak normally for god's sake, boy." his stepfather barked.

Eiji stood straighter, the shadow from his hair covering his eyes and repeated. "Liar. You said you cared for me, you old hag?" he started to laugh the same laugh that Sai used when watching someone writhe in pain before his eyes. "You call that taking care of me? Disgusting. You are a disgusting old woman that has no life. I hope you will die soon, bitch." He snickered and a crazy smile appeared on his face "And you, you are not my father, so don't you dare to talk to me like that ever again." He finally looked at both of them. "Got that."

The shock on their faces was something he enjoyed. It felt so good to see them look at him with those wide eyes, mouths slightly open and his mother's trembling hands. Eiji smirked, it felt great. He walked past them, up the stairs and into his own room, packed some clothes and then walked back to the first floor.

He already had his shoes on and was about to go out of the door and into the rain when his mother's voice came from behind him. "What are you doing? I still haven't…" she stammered and quieted down.

Eiji glared at her, his real character still taking control, "I'm doing something that I should have done a long time ago." He didn't bother to look back; this was no longer his home anyway.

ABUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBU! (Yours truly, UekiKosuke)

Ryoma groaned, throwing himself onto his new bed. Going to the infirmary because he fainted on his first day of school... He couldn't help but feel pathetic. He cursed loudly and slammed his fist on the bed as he stared at the ceiling with cloudy eyes. He was glad that his father wasn't here, but he also somewhat missed America. Actually… He missed Kevin. His savior, and the only person he'd acknowledge as a friend. Ryoma shuddered at the thought of his father raging and even maybe… going to have a little 'chat' with Kevin. Ryoma's stomach turned at the mere thought of his dad.

He shook his head and got up from his bed, grabbing his favorite white cap. He hurried downstairs before yelling, "Nanako-nee, I'm going to go to the store to get some ice-cream okay?" When he heard a faint 'okay' from the other bedroom, he scrambled for his shoes and hastily put them on. After putting his cap on, he took a deep breath and jogged out in the nightly city.

He inhaled the cool nightly air and slowed his pace until he was eventually walking. He sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets, looking around, observing the night view of his neighborhood. Ryoma wasn't really looking at where he was stepping, because he knew that it was the road and there shouldn't have been anything that would cause him to trip.

Naturally, looking at this last statement, of course, he tripped.

Ryoma cursed loudly, immediately turning around to see which object was the cause of his downfall. He was surprised to see it was a boy. Not just any boy, but the same boy that guided him through his new school this very morning.

Eiji Kikamaru.

Ryoma smirked and poked the boy lightly with his index finger. When Eiji looked up, Ryoma crouched down so that he was at eye level with the boy. "You alive?" Ryoma asked, in a mocking manner.

Eiji coughed out a dry laugh and shook his head sighing. "I don't think so."

Ryoma reached out for the boy with his right hand. Eiji looked at the hand reaching out for him and hesitated for a while before he grabbed Ryoma's hand and the two hauled each other up, using each other's strengths.

Ryoma chuckled half-heartedly and said "Just like me."

* * *

**A/N (MyInfernalInsanity): -is dead-**

**A/N (Ueki): …. I have nothing to say other than the fact that I am truly, truly sorry for the lack of updates in any of my stories =[**

**Thank you for reading :) **


	5. The One Sided Connection

_**Disclaimer: WE DON'T OWN ANYTHING! And by we, I mean by MyInfernalInsanity and myself. (Posting it again, just in case...) I wish PoT was mine tho...**_

_**WARNING: This fic WILL have cutting and it will have rape in the future chapters! It's also going to be boy x boy, so if you don't like, please press the back button or close the tab ^^**_

_********__-Ryoma's bit was written by UekiKosuke and Eiji's bit was written by **Ayingott** ^^_

_********__Please Enjoy the next chapter~ less than three :3_

* * *

"So, why are you out here?" Eiji's smile from before disappeared, and for once he wasn't afraid of showing someone, other than himself, an Eiji without a smile. Ryoma too was not smiling. His cap hung low on his head, shadowing the top half of his face. The two walked relatively close to each other, side-by-side.

"I came out for some fresh air." Ryoma simply replied, lowering his head a bit. He was unsure whether he should ask the latter the same question.

Eiji turned to look over at Ryoma and got a close look at him. Not just a quick glance kind of look, but an actually close look. He couldn't get much of Ryoma's face, as it was hidden under the white Fila cap, and so his eyes trailed down Ryoma's figure. The smaller boy was wearing a casual dark green t-shirt, which didn't fit Ryoma too tightly, but it didn't hang too loose on him either.

Feeling uncomfortable, Ryoma swiveled his head to look up at the taller boy. Eiji's eyes widened and he stopped himself from going any further down the path. Ryoma raised his eyebrow and stopped his track beside Eiji.

"Something wrong?" Ryoma's eyes reflecting the moon's luminance hit Eiji like a ton of bricks. The darkness buried deep within the reflection, the innocent looking expression, and… his cat-like features?

"Ah… No, sorry…" Eiji chuckled, embarrassed of being caught. "But aren't you wondering?" Ryoma turned his head the other way, avoiding anymore eye contact.

"Betsuni… It's your business. You probably had your reasons." Ryoma shrugged and looked around for a bench to sit on. When he spotted one near a big tree, he hurried over it and sat down at one end. Eiji trailed after him and sat down on the other side.

"But… If you need someone to talk to, you can talk to me." Ryoma mumbled. They both felt blood rushing to their faces and decided against facing each other.

"Then… Will you listen to me today?" Eiji looked up to find Ryoma looking away.

"I'm listening." Ryoma mumbled and tucked his knees against his chest, tightly wrapped his arms around them and rested his chin in the indented space between his two knees. Eiji blushed slightly and thanked the gods that they met during the night.

"My parents…" He chuckled darkly. "Or actually, the two people who call themselves my parents don't get along so much." Ryoma internally flinched, but showed no sign of it. Eiji continued after a deep, troubling sigh. "And well… to be frank, my father is dead, and my mother hates the living hell out of me." Eiji didn't notice Ryoma shuddering. "My poor excuse of a mother re-married one other guy after my father, and had already married a different man before my dad. The last one she married, of course, thinks he has full authority over me." Eiji took a deep breath while at the same time he swung his head up so that he could see the clear, dark night sky. He sighed heavily, a content look spreading across his face.

"Oh…" Ryoma hugged himself tighter, wanting to feel more secure in his own two arms. "But if that's how things are… why do you act like that at school?"

Eiji froze. He had completely forgotten about the fact that Ryoma was a _new kid_ and he was meant to be talking to him like his 'normal' self. He silently cursed, but then this thought occurred to him; what did Ryoma mean, when he said, '_just like me'_, when Eiji mentioned that he felt like he was dead? And more importantly, how had Ryoma known he was faking his smile after meeting him only once?

Eiji felt the contents in his stomach twisting and turning, rushing to get out. He couldn't answer Ryoma's question.

There were so many possible answers that he could've come up with, and they were all swirling around in his head. "I… I don't know…" Eiji pathetically came up with.

"I see." Ryoma had no intention of prying into other people's business, but why did his heart feel like something pricked it?

"So… What's your story?" Eiji cautiously asked Ryoma, still not looking at him, in his eyes. Ryoma lifted his head up enough for him to peer from the corner of his eyes. Ryoma's shining golden eyes locked on Eiji's deep blue eyes.

After a long moment of consideration, Ryoma silently unwound his arms from his legs and lifted his head from its' original position. He silently took his cap off, revealing his shimmering green tinted hair. Eiji didn't know what he was supposed to be looking at, until Ryoma gently swiped his hand over his forehead, uncovering the deep scar on his forehead. Eiji gasped, covering his moth with his hands. When he reached out to touch Ryoma's forehead, Ryoma instantly put his cap back on.

"What… _happened?_" Eiji demanded for an answer, his eyes deep with concern for the young boy.

"Let's just say this scar I have, isn't something I got from an accident." Ryoma proceeded to go back into the position he was in before. Eiji took a deep breath.

"You know… you can talk to me as well…" Eiji warily offered, only to receive a shrug from the young boy.

Truthfully, Eiji couldn't understand the boy. He didn't know why he was so interested in this one particular boy, to be more exact. He'd never been the kind of person who would actually pay attention to what any of his 'friends' were doing, or what they were thinking. They would always be the first to open up to _him_, instead of him having to go up to them and introducing himself first. For the first time in his life, he had broken his mask in front of a complete stranger, _and_ he told the stranger about himself. What was he thinking?

A long, comfortable silence followed after the slight awkward talk. The two didn't do much as they observed their surroundings, feeling the cool night breeze against their skin. Eiji sighed deeply, thinking about how long today was. Today, he thought it was just going to be any other normal day, but today may have been on of his biggest turning points in life. Meeting this boy… Eiji was yet to decide whether it was going to have a positive impact on him or a negative impact.

After a long moment of ranting to himself, or along the lines of that, he realized he didn't have a place to stay for the night. Eiji hesitantly broke the silence. "Hey, do you have a spare room I might be able to stay in for tonight?" without looking at Eiji, Ryoma nodded his head soundlessly. "Thanks…" Eiji mumbled, still too awkward to press Ryoma about his problems.

"It's getting late, we should probably head back." Ryoma released his legs from his arms and stretched. He slowly got up. Eiji soon followed after, silently getting up and stretching his arm and yawning at the same time.

"Yeah… Lead the way." Eiji mocked a polite gesture, which Ryoma chose to ignore. They walked down the path they walked before, the only audible noise being the sound of the crickets

The silence continued until the two boys reached Ryoma's house.

**_ PRINCE OF TENNIS BUBUBUBUBUBUB :3 _**

"I guess you can stay here. My cousin in asleep right now, so I can't make sure." Ryoma mumbled and turned on the lights, painting the room with soft, yellow, artificial light.

Eiji looked around the room, taking in all the small decors that were thrown around the room, making it seem not as empty as it should be. The small bed, obviously for the guests, was placed at the far corner of the room. Little paintings on the walls and small dolls scattered around the room. It looked like a little girl had been here and forgotten her stuff.

"It's nice. The room that is." Eiji said and dropped his small bag on the floor. "It will be just for one night, no longer." He smiled, trying to look like his 'every day' him, even though Ryoma already knew the real him.

This was something Eiji had gotten used to already, the fake feeling of safeness and happiness. But this was the thing that protected him. The fakeness, the lies, the mask… It was all to protect himself from the things that might hurt him. From all that was so distant and fearsome.

Ryoma merely looked straight at him, for the first time those golden eyes bored so deeply into the deep blue ones, the world suddenly feeling so small and meaningless around them. Neither of the two blinked for the few fast moments that passed by, so that the connection wouldn't be ruined.

"Whatever." Ryoma quietly said and turned to leave. "The shower is upstairs, the first door on the right. Toilet is right next to it."

Just when Ryoma was almost out of the door Eiji finally quietly murmured something under his nose. But Ryoma heard it anyway, thanks to his good hearing. The sincere and simple 'thank you' that the elder gave was enough to make the abused boy trust in something as simple as human feeling just one more time.

"You are welcome." He said and walked out of the room, leaving Eiji on his own.

Once Eiji had gotten out the little stuff that he needed he headed upstairs to take a shower. He walked around the house as quietly he could, since Ryoma's cousin, whose name was still a mystery for him, was sleeping already. The house was built in the traditional Japanese style, the tatami floors sucking in all sound that Eiji's feet made. But some of the old shoji doors were replaced with ones from the new era.

He walked up the stairs and, after glancing around for a bit, quickly disappeared into the bathroom. Just as he had closed the door behind himself, the sudden thought of a need of towels shot into Eiji's head. But he soon sighed in relief when his eyes stopped on a small pile of white and freshly washed towers, sitting on top of the laundry basket.

Eiji took off his jacket and would have discarded his pale grey shirt too if his eyes had not landed on his bandaged wrists. Small red spots had formed on the white bandages, showing that his wounds, some older, some fresher, had opened up at some point and maybe were still bleeding. The red-head frowned, but then resumed his undressing. Right now the wounds didn't matter.

The pain was no longer that strong that it couldn't be ignored for a while longer.

When Ryoma heard the sound of running water coming from upstairs he kind of understood that he came down to give Eiji some pajama clothes a bit too late. They were just some old clothes, left behind by Nanako's old boyfriend, so Eiji should be able to fit in them.

Ryoma sighed and placed the clothes on the small bed in the corner of the room. He looked around, hoping to find something, but his eyes only landed on Eiji's bag that was left behind. "I wonder if he ran from home?" he mumbled to himself.

But, it wasn't really his problem, right?

Ryoma sat on the bed and closed his eyes. This was the first person that he had willingly showed his scars to. It wasn't that he was scared to let people see… It was just that, he didn't think that they were worthy of seeing this. The pain and suffering that were the cause of his scars and the emotional wounds.. Only someone that would be in the same position as him, or someone that had experienced a loss and suffering so great, that it took over all his being would know.

But Ryoma was still afraid of human warmth and touch. If it all came down to him being confronted by someone… it was too frightening to think of.

He was shaken out of his deep thought by the soft beeping sound that seemed to be muffled by something. Ryoma looked around the room once again, trying to pin-point the source of the beeping, but found none. He then got up from the bed and slowly walked to the middle of the room, his eyes not leaving Eiji's bag.

Once Ryoma had walked close enough and crouched down in front of the bag, he slid his hand inside the bag and fished out the small and beeping cell phone. The thing was black and carried a lot of scratches, as if it had been through a lot. The name 'Sai' was flashing on the screen all the time, the beeping getting stronger and stronger.

Ryoma wasn't sure that answering someone else's phone was a good idea, but his hands seemed to be moving from their own, flipping the small thing open and pushing the right buttons.

"_Min, you damned asshole. What took you so long?_" the cold voice that suddenly talked into Ryoma's ear seemed to be completely void of emotions. "_Haven't you learned yet what happens when you make me wait, huh?_"

"Umm… I'm sorry… But this isn't umm… Min? Talking." Ryoma said into the small microphone of the phone. His voice was shaking a bit; as the voice remained him so much of his father's when he was verbally attacking him after yet another session of torture. "He can't come to the phone right now, so I just…"

There was silence coming from the other end of the line. Someone's breathing could be heard though, giving the whole situation and eerie feeling and making the small hair stand up on Ryoma's back, Goosebumps crawling on his skin. "_So he can't come to the phone you say?_" the vice asked again, sounding slightly interested.

"He's taking a shower right now. I shouldn't have answered in his place, I know… but maybe I can give him a message?" Ryoma tried to ask, not wanting to talk to this 'Sai' person any longer.

"_Nooo…._" Sai got quiet again for a second, "_That won't be necessary, you see. It seems that I will no longer acquire his help for today. Tell me kid, what's your name?_" Sai suddenly asked the scared teen.

Ryoma swallowed the saliva that had collected in his mouth and quietly answered. "Ryoma."

"_Ryoma, huh. Well then, __**Ryoma**__, we will keep about this little two sentence talk quiet to Min, won't we? I wouldn't want to worry him much. Besides, we will meet soon anyway._" The man laughed, making Ryoma shiver even in the heat that was in the room, "_Bye bye now._"

The dial tone was all that was now echoing in Ryoma's ear, Sai long since cut off the connection that they had. Ryoma looked at the phone and then quickly placed it back into the bag, making sure that everything looked untouched before walking back to the bed.

The thought that Eiji knew a person like that… A person that was so much alike to his father… It scared him. The fear and memories of his hell were now drifting in front of his eyes, as if mocking him for being who he is, for being still alive. His body shook and he tried to force everything out of his head, make all the things disappear.

"Echizen, what are you doing?" Eiji's voice, that suddenly sounded so close, made Ryoma open his closed eyes and let his hands fall down his sides limply. "You ok?" the red-head asked again.

"Yeah, just a little tired." Ryoma lied and looked away. He hated the hollowness that reflected from Eiji's blue eyes. "I brought you some clothes." He said, as if trying to explain his reason for being here.

Eiji looked over at the foot of his bead and blinked. "You really did. Thanks." He then tried to dry his hair with the white towel.

They both spent the time in silence, Ryoma wondering if he should be going now and Eiji trying to think of ways to change the dirty bandages on wrists without Ryoma noticing. He had taken a shower with them on, thinking that the bandages will protect the cuts from the soap and water, but Eiji was wrong. The soap stung and more that once he was forced to whine from the pain.

While Eiji was trying to think over what to do about his wrists and how to do it, so that the boy behind him wouldn't notice, Ryoma was secretly looking at Eiji's bag, hoping that the Sai person won't call again. He then glanced at Eiji, wondering what the red-head would be doing together with someone who seemed to hate all humanity. But then his eyes caught the sight of the blood soaked bandages on Eiji's wrists.

"You're bleeding." He quietly said and got up from the bed.

Eiji flinched and turned to face the cat-like boy, hiding his wrists behind his back, the towel clutched tightly in his hands. "It's just a little scratch, don't worry about it too much." He tried to make the fake smile he usually makes, but only a nervous laugh came out.

"We have to change the bandages, or it will get infected." Ryoma calmly said and pulled a first-aid kit from the small bed-side table. His cousin always kept them around the house. "I won't judge you. It just means that you are trying to channel the pain to someplace else. It's a cry for help." He said and waited for Eiji to extend his arms.

The red-head bit his lip and slowly allowed Ryoma to see his arms. Something inside of him told to trust the child standing in front of him. That he understands and knows what it is to be hated, to try and call out to people and not receive any answer. It was as if Eiji had finally found someone that could understand and help him. That knew his pain without being asked.

"Who told you that? About the cry of help." Eiji asked, watching the slender fingers working on his wounds.

Ryoma's eyes got a tad bit darker and the fingers stopped for a moment. "My mom. A long time ago my mom told me that." He applied some ointment on the cut wounds.

"You don't like her, do you." Eiji calmly stated and hissed when the cool substance covered the wounds. It hurt a bit more that he would have wanted. "I know the feeling." He smiled a bitter smile and helped the other boy to wrap new bandages on his wrists.

"I don't hate her. She just…. I don't want to talk about it." Ryoma said and closed the first-aid kit. "I will be going now. Don't strain your wrists anymore." He said and left the room, not wanting to hear what Eiji would say back to him.

* * *

**A/N (Ayingott): … I don't really know what to say. Sai is cool, I like that twisted man, even if he's so evil in this story. My baby. –dreamy eyes- **

**I will do a selfish request now. Vote on the poll I have please. I will give you imaginary Sai plushy if you do. :D Yes. Uki-chan is awesome, by the way. Just saying. And this was random as hell… Whatever. SEE YOU IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! XD **

**A/N (UekiKosuke): This is unheard of O.O I'm not awesome! Ayingott is! She wrote like… 2000 words, and I wrote like… 1000 words O.O;; Haha… But I swear I'll do better in the next chapter!  
Anyhooo… Sorry again for the late updates, but school and…. Oh dear lord DX I get goose bumps by the mere thought of going to school the next day D8! **

**Hope you enjoyed this chappie! Those who review will be rewarded with cyber cookies :D **


	6. Nightmares

_**Disclaimer: WE DON'T OWN ANYTHING! And by we, I mean by **__**Ayingott**_ and myself. (Posting it again, just in case...) I wish PoT was mine tho... Or Ayingott's... we would completely turn it into a Yaoi drug dealing... yeah... ^^ 

_**WARNING: This fic WILL have cutting and it will have rape in the future chapters! It's also going to be boy x boy, so if you don't like, please press the back button or close the tab ^^**_

_**-Ryoma's bit was written by UekiKosuke and Eiji's bit was written by **__**Ayingott**_

_**Please Enjoy the next chapter~ less than three :3**_

* * *

**_Chapter 6:_**

_He was back in a familiar place. He was back to the place he used to call home. He looked around and tried to speak but it felt like something was caught in his throat. Cautiously, he opened the door, walking in with slow, watchful motions. When he closed the door behind him, a sharp scream rang from somewhere in the house. Ryoma tensed, for he knew what was happening. This was the first time his father ever laid hands on him. _

"_Come back here you filthy little scum!" He heard the man he used to call 'father' scream to the top of his lungs. _

"_No, Please… No!" He heard himself beg. Ryoma wanted to move to where his other self was, but he was shaking, he couldn't get his legs to move. Ryoma wanted to scream at himself to go; to run away and find shelter someplace else. Anywhere but here would've been okay._

"_Daddy, what did I do wrong?" Ryoma flinched when he saw his younger self being thrown out of the house, flying towards a large tree located a few feet away from where he was standing. _

"_Damn idiot! You know well enough to not ask me any questions! DIE!" In a heartbeat, a sharp lethal looking piece of metal was shot at his younger self. Ryoma grabbed his throat and clawed at it, in a useless attempt of trying to get his voice to come out. Just as the object thrown was about to hit the younger boy- _

"_Noooooo!" _Ryoma shot up from his bed; his hands were clutching his throat, and his pajama shirt was soaking wet. Gasping for air, Ryoma stumbled out of his bed dashed towards the bathroom- clumsily tripping over the wooden floorboards. Not long after he reached the bathroom, sickening gagging noises were heard as he emptied his stomachs' content into the toilet. He coughed as the acidic smell filled his nose and strained to dump the last bit of his content. Taking slow deep breaths through his mouth; Ryoma spit the remaining bits into the toilet before flushing it down.

Ryoma turned the tap water on and let the cool water run through his fingers. He bent down and proceeded on wiping his lips and rinsing his mouth by gathering water into his cupped hands and sipped the water and gargled. He sighed in content as he wiped his mouth with a towel and looked up only to see a reflection of himself staring back at him. Slowly, Ryoma placed his fingertips on the cold surface of the glass and soon allowed his whole palm to touch the cool material, creating an illusion of two different hands touching.

Feeling a sudden jolt of pain rush through his body, Ryoma staggered, hitting his back against the bathroom wall. He drew in a sharp breath from the impact and slid down, leaning back to the wall for support.

"How pathetic…" Ryoma mumbled to himself as he lifted his shirt up and unwrapped the bandage that tightly bound his chest. He glided his fingers across the scar, left by his dad a couple of days before he left America. The scar felt like a reminder for Ryoma; a reminder that he'll never be really 'free' from that man.

"Well shit…" Ryoma cursed as he discarded the bandage completely and pulled his shirt back down. He brought his knees up to his chest and cuddled himself, placing his head in the space between his knees and his chest, comfortably and silently waiting till morning greeted him.

* * *

Eiji couldn't sleep.

Everything felt so foreign, so strange, so… Unreal. For him to be receiving such kindness, even if it wasn't a kindness that one would think of. Just letting him stay here, it was more than he could have wished for. It was a simple action, not really caring or special, but still… It surpassed the _love_ his mother gave him in the last years. If that could be called love.

"This could be a perfect `fuck my life example`…" He muttered to himself, letting a laugh follow those words, as if he had just said something funny. "Yeah right… as if." He sighed.

The red-head sat up in his bed, not feeling the need, or want, to sleep. This would be another sleepless night for him, not that it was a strange thing these days. There just were those nights when he couldn't go to sleep no matter what he tried. His scars ached, his mind was producing images he would rather forget and the naked truth just pressed down on him, suffocating.

Eiji looked down on his freshly bandaged wrists, the dim moonlight more than enough to see them. The _need _for pain made him itch. It was a necessary action to live by this point. Nothing else, just the pain that he crated himself, it was all that he longed for. Even more that the recognition of people around him, since people will only make sure that he dies a slow and painful death.

People were the creatures that had driven him so far.

He unwrapped the bandages, letting his eyes settle on the dried up blood and fresh cuts. He then reached out to the first-aid kit, forgotten on the small table by his bed, and after rummaging in it for a bit, took out the scalpel that he had found.

It wasn't usual that these boxes would hold scalpels, but it seemed that this one was upgraded by its owner.

The red-head slowly lowered the blade to his wrists, sucking in his breath when the cool metal touched the sensitive and damaged skin. He moaned when the blade left new wounds, right over the old ones that were still fresh. The sensations, the pain, the pleasure of it all… It made him forget about everything.

When he looked down again, the crimson blood, black in the moonlight, was sliding down his skin and dripping on the black sweat-pants he was wearing. It was a very fascinating sight, really. The way that the blood didn't seem to stop and just continued to come out more and more…

_It would be nice to die now._ Eiji thought with a hint of humor, an amused smirk crawling on his lips. _No one needs me anyway. _

He quickly moved on from that small idea, a plan for the future, and dropped the scalpel on the floor. A sound that his ears didn't appreciate filled the room for a second. After wrapping the bandages loosely around his wrist for the second time that day, Eiji got out of the bed and slowly made his way out of the room and up to the second floor, where the bathroom was. He wanted to wash up and maybe re-do the half-assed bandaging.

But somehow, he couldn't bring himself to care about his body anymore. It was all too unneeded and worthless.

When he got there, the sounds of someone gagging and vomiting flowed from the small room. Eiji's first reaction was to open the door wide open and run inside and see if he could help, but something stopped him. The short kid had his own demons to fight, and this was something he had to do by himself.

_Keep fighting, kid, keep fighting. _Eiji placed his right palm on the door lightly, ignoring the sharp reminder of his earlier relief. He waited for a little while longer before turning around and leaving to go back to the room he was given. Ryoma wasn't in pain, just sick.

They both were broken and twisted to the point where everything seemed disgusting. So there was also no way that they could help each other ease the pain. There was no way.

* * *

Ryoma jolted up when he heard his alarm ringing in his bedroom and groaned.

"Need to get out of here before…" he left his sentence hanging as he quickly slammed the bathroom door shut, locking it, and discarded his clothes. Swiftly he jumped into the shower and turned the cold water on. Basking in the cool water running down his body, he composed himself and placed his usual mask on his face. The emotionless, uncaring exterior character everyone thought he was.

Remembering that he didn't bring his clothes with him into the bathroom, he grabbed his shirt from the night before and wore it, silently cursing and wrapped his towel around his bottom half. He opened the door to find Eiji, hands half way brought up to the door handle, surprised by the younger boy's appearance.

"Sorry if I took too long." Ryoma mumbled, and walked out when Eiji shifted to the side making room for Ryoma to get through. Ryoma thought he heard Eiji mutter a silent 'thanks' but he ignored it.

The two reunited by the dining table, fully dressed and ready to go. Eiji had to wear the same uniform he was wearing yesterday seeing as Ryoma's clothes would obviously be too small for him, and he had no intention of going home that day.

They silently ate their breakfast, consisting of a toast and scrambled egg; American style breakfast wasn't really Ryoma's favorite but he would have to cope with it since Nanako hasn't woken up yet. When the two finished their food, they dumped their plates carefully in the sink and walked out.

"You're cousin's lucky." Eiji yawed, stretching his arms.

"Really…" Ryoma mumbled pulling his white Fila cap further down.

"She gets to sleep in." Eiji offered Ryoma one of his best fake smiles what Ryoma ignored. "Thanks again, for letting me stay over." Ryoma glanced up to look at Eiji from the corner of his eyes.

"It's fine."

They walked in silence after that. None of the two were up for a talk and were glad that the other seemed to be avoiding talking as well. It was easier this way and wouldn't cause any commotion in the other students that passed by. It would be strange for the new transfer kid to suddenly be all buddy-buddy with the energetic and bouncy third year.

But when they got closer to school, only a few more streets were left to be passed, Eiji suddenly froze in his way, Ryoma walking few steps ahead and the stopping too. Eiji could see the slight confusion in Ryoma's eyes from the corner of his own, but knew that the first year wasn't one to ask about his sudden actions.

Well, he expected them to start looking for him, but for it to happen so fast… he never expected his step-dad to care so much for him, or to care at all actually. Eiji got over his surprise and swallowed the saliva that had collected in his mouth. Well, if the old man wanted to talk, he will have to try a bit harder that this pathetic attempt.

"Sorry Echizen, I thought I saw someone I knew." Eiji lied, his eyes darting to the ground.

Ryoma only nodded in response to that. There was nothing he could say.

When the two had almost passed the stern-looking man, dressed in a tailored suit and ready to head to work, just like any other adult at this time, the man grabbed a hold of Eiji's left elbow, his fingers almost digging into Eiji's skin, if not for his uniform. When the red-haired teen turned to his stepfather, eyes glaring and full of hate, the man didn't even flinch.

"We need to talk boy. Now." Takafumi ordered. Treating the son of his wife like any other underling at his company, how typical.

Eiji pulled his arm out of Takafumi's hold, motioning for Ryoma to go ahead. "I said all I had to say yesterday. And if you are here to take me back to that hell hole of a home, the forget it. That woman will be happier without me." There was such hatred and disgust in his voice, it was impossible to hide.

"Your actions were disgraceful and pathetic. As your-" the man didn't have the chance to finish.

"Didn't I tell you already you old fart, you are _**not**_ my father, so _**do not**_ talk to me like that." Eiji was breathing heavily for some reason, "I don't give a flying rat's as about what you think and what that damned old hag wants from me. I will not go back and live as if nothing ever happened and continue to go through the ridicule I had to. So leave me the fuck alone already." He didn't try to be nice and civilized; they had long ago gone past that point.

Takafumi, for once, looked as if his very system of working had been destroyed. "Do you even realize what the hell you are doing, boy? Your mother is worried and your sisters miss you." He lastly said, ignoring everything that Eiji had told him just moments ago.

"As if! That woman is only worried about herself and what the people will say about her. And my sisters don't care." He smirked, allowing his stepfather to see the real him, the twisted, cruel and uncaring being that he is, "I know what I am doing. So please be so kind of get out of my life together with that old hag."

He didn't bother to listen to whatever else his stepfather had to say. He had decided to leave and so he will do. He heard the words 'responsibility', 'consequences', 'sorry' and 'come back', but all of that was meaningless right now. They were too late. He caught up with Ryoma in no time; the shorter boy was not that much of a fast walker, especially in the mornings.

Ryoma didn't ask questions and Eiji didn't want to answer them. It was some sort of quiet agreement between the two of them, or maybe they just both felt the need of letting the other alone with his problems and the answers will come eventually on their own.

Eiji just trusted, or maybe hoped; that the new transfer student won't tell people about the real him. About the problems he was now facing. About naked and horrible truth that really is Kikumaru Eiji. And he (Eiji) though that Ryoma is silently hoping for the same. The short kid hoped that he will keep his mouth shut and won't tell unnecessary things.

The two walked for a little longer indulged in their own thoughts until they have finally reached their school gates.

"Fujiko! Oishi-nya!" Ryoma flinched at the revolting happiness and tried his best to not to roll his eyes in front of them so openly; _it seems that Kikamaru-sempai is back to his 'happy' character._ Ryoma sighed and tried to walk away from the group of upperclassmen who were gathering around the red head. However, a hand caught him. Ryoma swiveled around to glare at whoever was holding onto him but didn't when he saw it was the red head that had caught him.

"Eiji!" The one with the least amount of hair jogged over and placed his hand on Eiji's shoulder. The others followed after and they all shared their usual greetings.

"Saa… and who could this cute little chibi be?" A boy with brown, medium length hair stepped in front of Ryoma and asked.

"This is the new kid who transferred here from America, nya!" Eiji jumped up and down a couple of times and threw himself on Ryoma. Ryoma noticeably stiffened at the sudden contact. Eiji noticed that Ryoma's body frame was shaking slightly, so he let go and bounced around some more. "Ochibi is going to be my new friend, nya!" Eiji proudly announced, crossing his arms across his chest. The boy with shoulder length brown hair was about to say something, but was cut off by Eiji. "Looks like I'll have to take him to his classroom, ne?" Eiji chided and grabbed Ryoma's wrist, earning a silent growl from him. "I'll see you guys later, nya!" he said and pulled Ryoma towards the school building.

When they seemed to be far enough from his crowd of friends, Eiji let go of Ryoma's wrist and shot him an apologetic look.

"Way to make me in an excuse…" Ryoma grumbled, obviously annoyed by the fact that Eiji was dragging him around like a hopeless case.

"Sorry." Eiji apologized, but stared at Ryoma with concern. "Do you always act like that when someone hugs you?"

Ryoma's lips pressed into a thin line, and his eyes narrowed. "I didn't pry into your business, so you don't pry into my business." Ryoma curtly replied, but his tone of voice turned cold again. "And now if you'll excuse me, I have classes I need to attend, and I believe you do too." With that being said, Ryoma walked away.

"I wonder what's got his ass…" Eiji silently muttered to himself and proceeded to leave as well.

* * *

Sai sat on the brick wall and watched as his men took care of the druggies that thought that stealing from him would be a piece of cake and there would be no consequences. The splatter of blood managed to get even to the wall he sat on, but the screams and the begging only added to his humor.

It sure was fun to be the head of a huge drug smuggling business.

He sighed when the poor creatures that were once human beings stopped letting out any kinds of sounds, obviously dead, and jumped down from the brick wall. "Dump them somewhere, I don't care where. Just make sure no one can trace us using those pieces of trash."

"Yes, boss." The large males replied in unison and started the clean-up the mess that they had created.

Sai loved the process, not the leftover tasks. That is why he had lackeys who did that for him, the dirty job so to speak. But in all honesty, he could do the whole beating up himself, in fact, he wanted to do it himself, but it would make his image even shitter that it already was. Not that he would mind, but his partners do. And when they started to whine about that it really got on Sai's nerves.

Just when he started to think about those damn ass-kissers…

"Sai here. What do you want?" he didn't bother checking the ID, since he answers all the callers the same. Well, maybe Min was an exception, but seeing what he had as friends… That won't be long.

There was a loud bang and then someone coughed for a long time on the other end. Sai almost hung up, but then the voice he knew oh-so-well cracked through the microphone: "_Sai, long time no hear._"

"Nanjirou. What the hell do _you_, of all people, want from me?" Sai lighted his cigarette and then, after taking a deep breath and blowing the smoke out of his mouth he spit on some homeless druggie, the anorexic girl not caring about it, "If it's about another package of cocaine, then you will have to wait a bit. The police have been a pain this month."

There was a sound that slightly reminded Sai of laughter coming from Nanjirou's side and the drug baron rolled his eyes. When Nanjirou spoke again he sounded strangely pleased. "_Good for you. Over here they leave us the fuck alone after receiving their fair share. But that is not what I called you about._" The drunkard of a man started to sound serious for a change.

"Oh really? Then why did you call me? Another pregnant bitch to take care of?" Sai remembered the woman that Nanjirou had married way back. She was fairly pretty and even managed to calm the tennis professional/drug seller down, thus managing to make a human out of him.

But then she died and all hell broke loose. He was kind of sorry about the son that Rinko had left behind in Nanjirou's care, but the 'feeling sorry' part only went so far. The kid was about to be pulled back in the shit he created himself.

"_The trash I call my fucking kid ran away from me. To Japan, of all places._" There were few more curses muttered in the phone before Nanjirou continued, "_I want you to find out where the hell that filthy little scum is hiding. After that, I will go for a small family reunion._"

Sai yawned, another annoying and troublesome family scandal he had been burdened with. Well, maybe this will help him to kill some time before Min shows up again and he gets to have his own little fun. "I hope you still haven't lost you poor memory and know how much I ask for crap like that? I don't care who you are, I want money from you and you will get your info."

"_I'm not stupid, asshole. I will put the cash in your bank account as always._" Nanjirou sighed before drinking up yet another dose of cheap vodka. He always did this when talking to Sai, or anyone else for that matter.

And that pissed Sai off.

"I don't give a fuck about what you are planning to do, but make sure it doesn't become my problem. Or else you will end up with you feet in a block of cement and at the bottom of the damned ocean. As fish food for the fishes. Glub, glub." Sai kicked another hobo that was in his way and walked up the stairs to his small market.

"_Yeah, yeah… Whatever. Meet me when I come?_" Nanjirou sounded close to passing out, how he was still talking normally, Sai had to wonder. Usually he never talked that long and managed to sound sane.

Sai stopped at the end of the stairs and looked around. "I will see." With that he hung up and entered the small market place where the people that worked under him made sure that the drug addicts get their daily share of happiness.

* * *

_**A/N (Ayingott):**__ Sai-baby is here! –jumps around- I am so uber happy now, 'cause the real fun is just starting. _

_:D I can't do a half-drunk, half-insane Nanjirou. He comes out… weird? Creepy? Like an asshole? Jecicmo;tv aiwytm;veroa b….. Yes, I am pleased. _

_-unicorn glitter vomit- and Ayingott is out!_

**_A/N (UekiKosuke): _**_Yosh! We hare finally done with this chapter! I love how they're both so down to Earth... Its really cute isn't it? ^^ No, not really =\ I feel like I'm kinda talking to myself whenever I'm writing these A/N's and it's... weird... AHHHHHH I'M GOING INSANE! _

_-dies-_

_ps (from the both of us): I hope this chapter was kinda worth the wait ^^;; _

**_To Be (Or not to be) Continued ;) _**


	7. Haunted  Sai's side story

**Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not profit from this. I own Sai, who is my original character.**

**Warning: bad language, grammar/spelling mistakes, violence, mentions of alcohol and drugs and other shit. If this offends you, please turn back and do not read this. **

**Linked Souls Side Story - Haunted.**

It reeked in the small, stuffy room. It really, really reeked in that shabby dump that he was forced to call home. The stingy smell of the spilled alcohol and the sickening stench of the puke that was starting to rot in the corner of the living room mixed together, to just add to the stench of the house. It was a typical house of drunkards and druggies.

He hated this place. Despised it even.

It was his very own, personal hell hole. Home his ass – only the roaches and all the other bugs and viruses and whatever else was living there, besides him and the two drunkards who were his parents, thought of this place as home.

He looked at the dump from the only corner in the hose that was puke and shit free – his "room". He was a small, dirty and frail-looking child. His skin was ghostly white and the typical, black hair had long since stopped shining and now the locks were stuck to each other because of the layer of filth in them. He was always the one that was bullied, laughed about and made fun of, the oddball of the group of children, the only one who couldn't and didn't fit it. He was the useless human that was left out of everything.

The alcoholics' child.

Even his own parents, the word itself almost made him puke, treated him like just any other dog shit under their feet. Like trash that no one wants. Because they didn't want him, no one wanted him. Because he was the kid that made things harder for them, the one that they didn't want to have, but still had. His mother had somehow managed to give birth to him, which was strange on its own.

His black hair had long since grown long enough to cover his light green eyes, hiding the despise and hatred and look of utter lack of hope in them. He always looked at the ones around him as if he was planning their deaths silently to himself; it was the only fun he got in this miserable life of his.

And yet, he hated it all.

He got to escape this hell today though. With the help of an accidentally met stranger, he will manage to get out of this miserable life and finally get a name. By accidentally meeting that one monster of a human, he will start to live, for real this time.

It was just like any other day, it started with his hangoverish father beating up the woman that was supposed to be his mother. The cries of the woman woke him up, he was so used to this alarm clock that he no longer felt the need to run and look what was happening. He didn't want to get in the way again. And it wasn't like he cared about what will happen to that drug addicted woman.

He sometimes had to wonder how she even managed to feel the pain though the hazed wonderland that the drugs in her body made her experience. He had seen her arms and legs; disgusting was a mild way of describing the slowly decaying woman. Sometimes, he wondered exactly how she managed to carry out him though the whole pregnancy and even give birth to him 10 years ago.

Well, then again, he actually didn't really care.

After peeking into the "living room" to make sure that his old man was still preoccupied with putting his "wife" to her rightful place, Sai (but that wasn't his name yet) wrinkled his nose in disgust and disappeared back into the small chamber he was forced to live in. He fetched his worn out, stolen jacket and jumped out of the broken window, into the world that hated him.

It was a school day for all the other children, so he could walk around without the rocks flying at him and the mockery being thrown at him. It was a perfect day to walk around the neighborhood and search for some new clothes to steal; the ones he was wearing were starting to lose their original color under the layer of dirt.

It didn't take long for him to notice the next articles of clothing that he would wear until they start to fall apart. The people around here newer learned. He changed behind one of the big apartment building and left his old clothes there, he had no need of them now.

Still, he had a whole day to kill before, once again, being forced to return to that hell hole of a home and endure another night of cold wind and the drunken rage of his father. He had tried to end his own life for countless times now, as well as all the times when his father tried to 'help' him out. But he always seemed to wake up and live on. God didn't let him die, he made him suffer some more for his own entertainment.

"Disgusting world." He muttered to himself as he looked at a happy mother and child walking down the road, "I will destroy it one day." It was a promise he made to himself every day.

"Oh really? And how do you plan to do that?" an amused male voice asked back. It had a tint of amusement and interest to it, not to mention the vivid laughter.

He didn't show his surprise, merely turned his head a little to throw one look at the man before answering. "What do you care?" he wasn't about to get all friendly with some guy that though that he was a mere street rat, trash that would entertain him a bit.

"Friendly, aren't we? Well you see, dirty brat, according to your answer, I might just take a liking to you." The man sipped on his glass of high class alcohol and smiled. It was a smile, but not a pleasant one.

The man wore a black suit, no tie and had a scar on his face. His cold, grey eyes bore into his, the child's, very soul even. It was, as if he was placed in front of a being that was not human. The shivers that ran down his spine were those of fear, fear that was even greater than the one that he felt when his farther held a knife to his throat.

"Still not your business." The child muttered and turned to leave. He had learned before that nothing good comes from people that actually that him like a living thing for a change. In the best case, he gets away with just being raped.

Laughter followed his back, "I like you, dirty brat. In the evening, I will come to get you. Remember, Myth is always watching you." The man laughed after those words again and then got quiet.

It was as if his destiny was already decided for him – he didn't like it. To follow some stranger's words so easily and become his play thing, even for him that was unacceptable. He still had _some_ pride left, even if he was a thing that lived off trash. Pathetic.

"Shitty old man." He muttered and started to run for some reason. Now, the feeling of being watched all the time didn't want to leave the child. It was like his every move is known and predicted all of a sudden. "Fuck you all."

Only when the night time came did he return back to the dump where his parent's were. He heard the already well known sounds of his father doing his mom from the outside, just like every damn evening when he wasn't drunk as hell. That was merely another of the things that he wanted to escape from. For the whole day he had run, never stopping at one place for long.

The words of that man were like a heavy reminder that he has a fate that he didn't want in store for him. A fate of being someone's lap dog, someone's little toy for boring days. He didn't want that. He just wanted to be free from it all.

"You know, just because you run around a little, doesn't mean that I will not know where you are." Hot breath tickled the dirty skin on his neck. The same voice from the day, filled with evil laughter, ghosted over his neck. "Haven't you given up yet, _boy_?"

He balled up his fists and narrowed his eyes. "Why me? What the hell is so good about me anyway? Or you just want me as a sex toy, just like they all do?" his voice trembled a little, but not from fear this time. Fear was something that was so unreachable for him right now.

"No, not that." Myth smirked and straightened up, pulling out a cigarette from one of his pockets, "You see, I like your eyes. So full of hatred against this world, such vivid and beautiful disgust against humans. Reminds me of myself actually." Laughter again, "I saw how you killed one of them, you know."

"So what?" he didn't turn to face the man that was now boring holes in the back of his head and kept his green eyes at the shadows of his parents on the wall, "I got sick and tired of him trying to do me again." That wasn't lie.

The feeling of warm blood on his hands and the thrill of the kill, he remembered it well. Even now. It was like a new life; new strong reason for living a tad bit longer had flown into his body. The maniacal laughter that had broken out of his mouth freed him of all the hatred that had piled up in his little, frail body. He had felt alive for the first time.

"I like you." The man behind him said, "If you follow me, I will give you the chance to destroy the world, as my property of course." It was a quiet offer. But it still managed to make his blood boil for some reason. "And of course, I will give you a name."

His eyes widened and he finally looked at the man that promised so much in exchange for his very soul. Only emotionless and slightly amused eyes stared back at him. "A name. For me?"

"Yes, a name, boy." A smirk bloomed on the man's face, a sign that he had just signed the contract for his very life. A contract with the devil himself.

He looked back at the house, "I want to kill them." Was all that he quietly said, no longer resisting the fate that was placed in front of him. Fate of a killer. Fate of a lap dog. Fate of a human being.

"But of course." Myth simply smiled and threw him a gun. "I will be waiting in the car, boy. Come after you are done. I don't like to wait long, not even for little brats." Laughter again and the sharp smoke of the cigarette in his hand flew around the child for the last time that day.

555555

"Sai-sama, you have a call." One of his men announced the moment that the blond leader of the yakuza stepped inside the main house. "Myth-sama wishes to speak to you."

The man dropped his jacket on the floor and sighed, it has been a long time since he last spoke to that man. The man that had saved him _and_ sent him to hell at the same time that day. The one that he actually thought of as a father. The one that gave him a name. The devil himself.

"Yes?" he answered the offered phone and waited until the laughter died down.

The chuckling ended, "_Sai, I see that you are still the same._" Sai could almost imagine the smirk on the other man's face right now. Myth was the same as well.

"Like you are the one to talk, old man." He smirked as well and leaned against the wall. "Ne, why did you give me a name like that? Why Sai?" his green eyes watched the dark city, half lidded and deep into thought.

Silence and then laughter again, just like always: "_I wonder._" The usual answer awaited him.

**A/N: I'm sorry, this is so… meh.**

**I just wanted to make a oneshot about Sai-baby's past. And it came out creepy as hell, like most of my stories that I wanted to make not so creepy. Actually, a lot of my stories are creepy as hell. Damn…**

**Even my hubby hasn't seen the completed version of this, even though we are working on the same fic (Sorry for no updates, we be lazy as hell…. -sweat drop-).**

**Yeah, so… umm… Yeah.**

**Reviews? ^^;;;**


	8. Masked Tranquility

_**Disclaimer: WE DON'T OWN ANYTHING! And by we, I mean by **__**Ayingott**_ and myself. (Posting it again, just in case...) I wish PoT was mine tho... Or Ayingott's... we would completely turn it into a Yaoi drug dealing... yeah... ^^

_**WARNING: This fic WILL have cutting and it will have rape in the future chapters! It's also going to be boy x boy, so if you don't like, please press the back button or close the tab ^^**_

* * *

**Chapter 7**

To say that school was interesting would be an understatement. Everything that Eiji had to do was boring, his so called 'friends' were off in their own little world during recess (just like always), talking about things that he hadn't seen or heard, laughing their hearts out. He wore his mask and pretended to be one of them, of course, but it just got harder and harder to pretend to be something he wasn't and to like something he has never seem. It was hard to even breathe; the people around him suffocated him.

He hated it.

It hadn't been this hard with Ryoma. Probably because the younger knew how it was to pretend and lie and wear the mask made of stone, with awkward, fake emotions carved into it, made for the sake of hiding away from the eyes of others. Ryoma understood him, to some extent. The younger had his own demons to fight, just like Eiji had his.

That's why he didn't have to hide away and pretend and lie when he was together with the first-year. He even felt… comfortable with him. It was the first time, since his dad had disappeared, that he could be himself while together with another living person. It was a bit scary, yet a reassuring feeling at the same time.

The bell for lunch break finally rang through the quiet hallways, cutting the teachers in mid-sentence and making the students jump on their feet and make a mad-dash to the cafeteria or lazily pull out their bentos from their bags and settling down with their friends either in the classroom or at some other place. For Eiji it meant a lonely store-bought lunch at the roof, where people rarely went and even if they did go, they left the red-head alone. And Eiji was perfectly fine with that.

So, as usual, he silently left the classroom, slipping past the students that were in the hallway, cheerfully greeting those that called the usual 'hey Eiji!' and 'yo!' behind him. He made his way to the stairs and climbed up to the very top. The door was already unlocked and left wide open, few students already enjoying their lunch of the roof. The red-head took his usual place on the side and opened up the store-bought melon bread.

As the third-year silently chewed the dry bread he thought back on what had happened on the morning. Why did his step-dad even care? It wasn't like something would change if he were to leave the home, well no… It would change – for the better. No more of the disgusting son that came from _that man_, no more of the child that only wastes that woman's money and ruins her health. They could be a 'happy family'.

_Fine by me. I'd rather they all just disappear from here. _He drank from the bottle of coca-cola and tore another bite from his bread. _I finally got away from them. For now, that's all that matters. For now._

"Why do I run into you so often?" a lazy voice suddenly drawled from his left and the first-year flopped down besides Eiji, opening his bento.

The red-head looked at Ryoma and then down at the healthy and tasty looking food that the kid had taken with him to school. He swallowed and then looked away – he shouldn't remind himself of the sorry state of his own lunch even more.

"If you really didn't want to see me you wouldn't have sat next to me, ne?" Eiji remarked, taking a sip from his cola and crumpling up the empty bread container. He took out another bread from the plastic bag and then added, "Can I really stay at your place?"

Ryoma looked at him from the corner of his eye, retaining his constant poker face and sighed, "Like I said, you can." He picked up the tamagoyaki and ate it, humming low in his throat at the flavors that filled his mouth.

Eiji half-glared at the younger boy next to him and his food and continued to eat his own store-brought lunch that had lost it's already little taste. "So lucky, homemade lunch." He mumbled to himself, thinking that Ryoma won't hear.

The short kid smirked a small smirk and mumbled back, "Isn't it?"

* * *

It was after school, the streets were now full with grownups and kids that had just gotten out of school and didn't go to any clubs. If it was already hard to get through the crowds while the school was still going then now it was just hell.

But Eiji didn't bother about being polite and nice and simply broke through the wall of humans and dashed forward to his destination. He had already told Ryoma that he had something to take care of, which wasn't a lie, and that he would be back in the evening. The first-year kid only hummed and said that he would ask Nanako, his cousin, to save his part of the meal.

The phone is the pocket of his jeans started to silently vibrate, reminding the seventeen year old that Sai was not a very patient man and he _did not_ like to wait. He had received a very brief message from him right before the last lesson, merely stating the time and place where Eiji should go. Thankfully, it was after the lessons, so he could still catch up with Ryoma and let him know that they would not go home together. The kid didn't look too saddened by those news, but Eiji wasn't surprised.

Eiji tch-ed and pulled out his phone, "Listen Sai, I am already on my way! I'll be there in ten minutes." He wasn't particularly kind or polite; it never really mattered when he was speaking with Sai. After all, he got the same result either way.

"_I know you are. Hahaha!_" Sai's hollow, yet amused laugh drifted through the phone receiver, "_That's not what I wanted to talk about._" He made a small pause, "_I want you to get something for me on the way here. Something from a dear, old friend of mine. He has a... how to say it, ahh… a **gift** for me. And you can grab it on your way here._" It may have sounded like a simple request, but in reality it was nothing more than a command, a command that was not to be disobeyed.

Eiji stopped at the intersection, waiting for the lights to change. He kept silent for a couple of seconds and then agreed. "Yeah, I can. Where do I meet him?"

"_Good boy._" Sai seemed to be pleased, "_At the Russian cafeteria, just right before my territory starts. You'll know him when you see him. Bye~._" Sai hung up and the dial tone was all that was left behind.

Eiji shut his phone and then slid it back inside his pocket. He almost ran the rest of the way, only stopping when he absolutely had to. Soon the Russian cafeteria that Sai often used as a place for meeting other drug kings came into view. Next Eiji noticed a rather old man, dressed in all white with a long beard that was braided up and in black sunglasses. He was immediately sure that that was the man that Sai had talked about.

The teen walked up to the old man, opening his mouth to say something when the old man simply gestured for him to keep his mouth shut and gave him a small bottle, shut tightly and wrapped up in cloth. Eiji took it and, after watching the man for a while longer, walked past him, inside the dark part of the city.

It took him five minutes to reach Sai's appointed meeting place – an old shop, shut down to the rest of the people around Eiji. The seventeen year old took a deep breath and walked up the stairs, his heart beating faster and faster with each step that he took. He knew that he would not leave this place unharmed. He felt it with every fiber of his being. The red-head placed his hand on the handle and opened his door.

His heart almost doubled its beating speed and cold sweat broke on his skin.

Sai sat on an expensive looking leather chair, twirling a knife between his fingers and yawning. Once he noticed Eiji's presence in the room, he threw the knife on the table and smiled, "Min, long time no see."

The teen watched the knife that was now stuck on the table's surface and then back at Sai, making a half-assed smile of his own, using one of his masks to make the impression needed to please the king of the underworld. "Yes, really."

"I hope you brought what I asked you to?" Sai almost asked, totally uninterested and then pointed at Eiji, "Now then, drink that and while you do, I will tell you what I called you over for." He tilted his head to one side, black hair covering his green eyes.

Eiji gulped, a shiver ran over his spine and he exhaled a shaky breath. But he still unwrapped the small bottle and, after fighting the lid, he sighed and drowned the whole bottle, shutting his eyes tightly. The bitterness stung his throat and burned his mouth, it was horrible. But he couldn't disobey Sai, no one could.

Sai hummed in sick humor and then produced a picture from his pocket, "Now then." He started in a low voice, "An old friend of mine has asked me a favor. Can't say that I want to help that motherfucking drunkard, but this seems interesting enough for me to participate in."

Eiji nodded. He was starting to feel rather hot; his body seemed to slowly start to set on fire, starting from his fingertips and toes, the warmness slowly creeping up and taking over. He leaned against the door and exhaled again, listening closely to what his boss was saying.

"You see, that fucking ass is now looking for his runaway son. A fairly pretty kid, if I say so myself, might make a pretty well-earning prostitute if I get to keep him." He chuckled and ran a hand through his black hair, "Either way, what I want from you, Min, is to find this shitty brat and bring him to me."

Sai leaned a bit forward in his chair and licked his lips, watching intensely as Eiji was shivering and fighting to keep standing. "Of course, I am not saying that you _must_ do this, because, you know, this fucking brat might be at the other fucking end of Japan. But in case you spot him _know_ that I want him, so you get him for me. Ne?"

Eiji slowly shook his head, trying to even out his breathing. He had slid down the door and was now sitting on the dirty ground. His heart was pounding in his chest; body felt like it was on fire and, strangely enough (or not), he was hard. His head was all fuzzy, no coherent thought could form in his head - it was hard and almost tormenting. He moaned, not managing to stop himself in time.

Sai laughed out loud and leaned back into his chair. He crossed his legs and smirked, showing the white of his teeth. "Crawl to me, Min. We're gonna have a little fun now." He quietly ordered, green eyes looking down on the teen, glinting in animalistic joy, the photo of Echizen Ryoma slowly fluttering out of his hold and down on the ground.

* * *

**A/N: Taku managed to write this in two days. This is a… how do you call this? A 'sorry we weren't posting for so long' chapter, I guess. Uhmm… yeah?**

**Well… We're both very lazy so, it takes us a long time to update. Gomen. :D**

**A/N: To clear any future confusions and whatnot about this chapter, this was entirely written by my baby Taku. Ueki should be ashamed of herself and yo u may bash her all you like in the reviews T^T**


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